Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Showdown in Cleveland: Unions Refuse Nominal Pay Cuts

In typical fashion, and not understanding how well off they are compared to the private sector, unions have rejected nominal salary concessions in Cleveland.

Please consider Cleveland Unions Have One Week To Accept Concessions Or Face Layoffs. http://www.wcpn.org/WCPN/news/29139/

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson plans to follow through on layoff notices issued late last month unless unions agree to sacrifices. Ideastream’s Bill Rice reports.

The mayor sent a total of about 160 layoff notices out just before Christmas in order to meet the a two- week notification deadline to cut employees loose after next Monday. At that time, the Cleveland Fraternal Order of Police – which represents supervisors - had rejected the mayors’ proposed concessions. Shortly after that, the Patrolman’s Union followed suit, as did the EMS union. Those votes will mean the city will lay off just under a hundred officers and paramedics, and demote several higher ranking police personnel.

Jackson has asked all union employees to make concessions equaling a 4.17 percent across the board pay cut. He calls the proposed concessions an opportunity to preserve jobs, and says it’s up to the unions to decide whether there will be layoffs.

Jackson: “Realistically I’ve been able to give them a proposal that would avert layoffs, that would not impact their membership. And those who choose to go along with that, then that is what will happen. Those don’t, the effective date of the layoff is in mid-January.â€